Industry minister Yuko Obuchi visited Fukushima Prefecture on Thursday and vowed efforts to overcome the crisis at the disaster-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
It is Obuchi's second visit to Fukushima since she took office in a Cabinet reshuffle earlier this month.
The administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which wants to restart the nation's idled nuclear reactors, is trying to show its support for the prefecture that bore the brunt of the nuclear disaster after suffering severe damage from the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Meeting with Obuchi, Fukushima Gov. Yuhei Sato urged the government to take the lead in addressing the buildup of contaminated water at the plant and the decommissioning of its reactors.
On Sept. 3, Obuchi became Japan's first female minister of economy, trade and industry. She has placed the nuclear crisis and Fukushima's revival at the top of her agenda, visiting the reactor complex for the first time days after assuming her ministerial post.